I hope Angie gives him a chance,but he needs to stop talking to the tabloids about this.
When Angie was needed him, he's never been there for her.

Good for her for having the strength to do what's best for herself and her children.

I find interesting that some people always say that he should stop talking to press when he is asked questions about his relationship with his daughter and her kids...Angelina responds just as much to the press when she is asked about her relationship with her father (if i'm not mistaken she was asked in the new Vanity Fair that is featuring her), but I haven't ever read any comments that she should keep quiet in regards to her father, and his comment was harmless...anyways I hope they do make up and he gets to meet his grandkids, but that's her and brad's decision.

I hope Angie will let him see the kids. He's not getting any younger and surely at this point the hatchet can be buried. I know Shiloh looks like Brad but I can see a resemblance to her Grand-Dad too.

I think it's so sad that he hasn't even met the kids. Unless someone is a molester or something awful like that, there has to be a time to forgive the mistakes of the past. Who knows though what the real situation is though. It just is sad because he seems to want to know the kids but is being denied that opportunity. I guess it just goes to show that no one has a picture-perfect family.

I honestly don't know what to think about Jon Voight. Sometimes I feel bad for him, and then I think about him cheating on Angelina's mother and leaving her and the kids. That happened to me and I can identify with any woman who has gone through it. And, I watched my mother go through it too. I can understand Angelina's reluctance to have a relationship with him. He hasn't always been the best or even slightly involved father. I don't know if that is for lack of trying or lack of Angelina wanting him around. Life is short and although I don't really like my dad I am civil to him. Maybe they could get to at least that point...civility.

This situation makes me so sad. My family is very much pulled apart because of a family issue that happened several years ago.
It's so hard to not have contact with everyone and especially hard on my Mother. To see the toll it takes on her to not see her grandbabies because people refuse to work on mending past hurts is awful.

I've done my best to reach out to my siblings and have been able to at least meet a few of my nephews and it breaks my heart to know I won't know them as their Auntie.
I will always be a stranger.

I don't really know why Angelina doesn't speak to her Dad but I hope one day she can repair that relationship

I agree that he should stop talking to the press. It probably makes Angie nervous that he's going to blab about her business if she lets him back into her life. I know it's tempting Jon, but just smile and say no comment (at least for now)!

It is possible to forgive someone and free yourself of the burden of anger without giving them a chance to hurt you again. Life is short, why waste any of it someone who's proven himself to be unpleasant?

As for her children, why should she make her children the guinea pigs to see if he's become a better person? Whose emotions are more important: a helpless child or a man in his sixties? Angelina Jolie is keeping her children safe in spite of the strong social pressure to offer them up as sacrifices to "family harmony". I admire her for that.

On one hand I do feel sorry for Jon Voight but then again Angelina has personally been hurt by him after he hurt her mother and it is hard to want to involve your children in a relationship with a man you cannot trust. After she first reunited with him he threw her to the dogs calling her crazy in interviews and then he called Zahara "Shakira." It almost seems as if he is responding to these questions in such a way that will make him look good. It's not like Angelina hasn't given him a chance in the past - it is hard to keep giving people chances when it involves children. I think her approach of having a relationship that is not necessarily a father-daughter relationship is reasonable given their past.

Well I think one reason she doesn't speak to her dad is b/c he said publicly that she needed treatment for "serious mental problems". Maybe it was true, but I would be seriously pissed if my dad was broadcasting anything like that about me.

I hope he gets to meet the grandkids, and new babies soon. He seems to love angelina, and shiloh looks so much like him. He mentions his daughter because the press ask, the same way they mention jon to angelina, same goes for people like gwyneth paltrow, ashley judd, lisa marie, kate hudson, etc who all have famous parents.

I basically grew up without grandparents (they were all dead before I turned nine) so I made sure my son had a close relationship with my own parents. He and my mother are still very close, although he is grown up now. Grandchild/grandparent relationships are very special and I hope Angelina can find it in her heart to allow her father to get to know his grandchildren. I don't know even a fraction of what went down between Angelina and Jon Voight, but maybe he is trying to make up as a grandparent for the ways in which he failed as a parent. Maybe Brad can mediate in this matter and help bring them together. I hope so.

I think it's a tough call but once you become q parent you consider what is best for your kids first. Rather than worrying about appearances to outsiders it seems Angie is just doing what she feels is best. Not like she is simply holding a grudge. By her accounts she did not have him around (physically or emotionally) growing up; his infidelity was a big part of that. But maybe she wants to protect her kids from being let down. Just because someone is older does not mean they have learned from those experiences. Sadly I know this firsthand.

Someone wrote 'It's not like she was molested' but... physical abuse is serious and warrants drastic action i.e. severing ties. But emotional abuse (or abandonment) scars severely as well. It lingers and does not go away even when the perpetrator is old and seems like a kindly senior citizen. I had to make that call myself. After my parents were allowed to see our baby (I made a huge effort, made them at ease, etc) something came up that was a glaring example that my father's vicious old ways had returned and frankly, it wasn't even a decision: they cannot have the chance to influence our child much less say the terrible things that scarred us kids for years. Why take a chance?
If I cannot trust my kids alone with someone for fear of their words/behavior why see them at all? It's sad but child's emotional well being comes first. Thankfully we have a super loving home and we still have my husband's parents. I would do anything for a warm, positive relationship with my parents for my kids too but..some things just are what they are. It's tough but a lot harder to undo damage from an emotionally abusive person.
Anyway. sorry for the long book here but just another perspective as it is close to my own situation. We never know someone else's reasons for their decisions.

I know what it's like to have a "toxic parent". My mother is like Jon. They make a big show about being a caring person, but in reality it's different. Rarely do they get any better for the grandkids. Personally, I think Angie is doing the right thing by protecting herself so that her kids don't see her stressed out over her dad. I don't think Brad should mediate either, because oftentimes it doesn't work and then more people get hurt.

Sarah, my mother and I have had a toxic relationship for decades. But to be fair to her, she was not a toxic grandparent. Sometimes people realize their mistakes, sometimes they don't. Angelina has to play it as she sees fit and do what she thinks is best for the children. But unless she has good reason to feel that Voight's presence might actually be harmful to any of the children, I hope she cuts both sides a break and lets them meet. It's not like he's going to move in with the family, know what I'm saying?

I think it would help if he would stop talking to the press about her. I can imagine that she worries about her privacy if she lets him into her life again.

Good points, Jen & Tink! I also feel like you should try and make it work with family unless for extreme circumstances! Who knows how long we have on this Earth. I think being an ACTIVE grandparent would change his life.

Read all the replies and good points also Lara and Nicole. I remember seeing that Shakira thing and it really made me cringe!

My husband and I both come from very disfunctional families. However, our children had close relationships with all their grandparents. In one case, I made the decision never to leave the children alone with a relative, but they had good (supervised) time with that grandparent. It depends on the individual, but I believe bad parents are capable of being good grandparents.

I don't know any thing about the rift going on between Jon and Angelina but what I have read on here. But IMO if Jon cheated on Angie's mom Marcheline and left her then what should be realized is he cheated on Marcheline and walked out on Marcheline.... not the kids (Like I said I don't know the whole situation - I just know what I have read on here). Maybe Marcheline wouldn't allow him to have anything to do with Angelina and James out of fear that he would break their hearts or hurt them also.
I do think it's really sad that he's not even as so much as meet his grandchildren. And I hope that Angie is doing it out of concern/protection for the children and not just holding a grudge (or using them just to hurt him - tho I don't see Angie as being this type of mom). I hope that Angie and Jon can communicate and work out a solution - and stick with it - so that Jon and his grandbabies can have a relationship.

Hi Bancie1031,

Jon also appeared on a tv programm crying that he was concerned about Angie and that he was worried about her mental state of mind. He said something about wanting her to seek mental help. I think this started for Angelina to replying back to the media that she wishes for her father to stop talking to the media about her and that she is doing just fine.

If Angie has stated that she wished he would stop talking to the media about her than I think it might be a good idea for him to abide with her wishes when he's trying to mend their broken relationship. And wanting to meet his grandchildren.
Like I said I don't know about their dispute other than what is stated on here but I'm sure there's probably more to it than any of us know about.
And I still hope that Angie and Jon can get together, talk and work out their disagreements with one another. But unforunately what I want doesn't count LOL ;)